HOW TO COMBAT CREATIVE STICKING POINTS

Have you ever had a time when you couldn't come up with a good drawing? You try and try, but - nothing? Everyone has times like that. Many people recommend taking your mind off of your work by taking a break from drawing. They tell us to go for a walk along the beach, or go to a movie, or something along those lines. Sounds right to me.

But unfortunately, it doesn't usually work.  In fact, I've met very few frustrated cartoonists wandering along the shore. Pros don't often approach creative frustration by taking a break.

A brief disclaimer before I go on:  None of what I say is meant to be interpreted as an ironclad "rule." Whichever way that works for you is the best way. That said, if you are experiencing sticking points, and are looking for a way to effectively deal with them, then you might want to consider the following:

Professional artists have deadlines. Those a great motivators. But you may not have a deadline. So what, exactly, can you do to kick start your creative juices?



Start by redefining what your imagination is. It's a tool, to be used, not a sentient being, which must be allowed to wander at its own pace and in any  direction.  Press harder on your imagination to produce results. Turn it into just another element of drawing, like visual memory, reworking, and polishing. Imagining is nothing more than a technique to be applied to a problem.

I have immense respect for the imagination. How it works remains, to me, somewhat magical and mysterious. And yet, it seems to respond better if it's not treated as something unknowable, but something workable instead.

Many people believe that the imagination either flows or it doesn't. Were that true, you could never count on your own talent. It might be there, it might not be, depending on the flow.  No one can afford to work with such a capricious muse. You need to undertake a personal journey to find inroads into your own creative thinking, and devise a familiar and workable approach to taming and manipulating your own creative thought process.

Push if it doesn't flow. If the flow is absent, don't accept this as your imagination taking a vacation. Call it back to work. Think in a new and stimulating direction to reinvigorate it. Yes, by all means, allow your imagination to wander, but continue to remain at the helm, redirecting it when it attempts to veer off course - which it will. Sprinkle in fresh thoughts, which might begin with, "What if I did this..."

Directed daydreaming produces creative results.

Just some pencil shavings for thought.

I hope that was helpful!

Chris

WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER SEE?

I'm thinking about adding new, free tutorials to my website, or doing some Youtube demos on cartooning techniques. I envision them at 5-7 minutes each. My recent Howcast videos, which are on Youtbe,  are only 2-3 minutes, and I think there's room for longer versions with less talk, and more drawing.

The free tutorials would feature more steps. The ones we have are cool, but I believe that some people would also like to see more steps and art instruction.

What would you like to see?

Chris Hart Books: DRAWING TIP OF THE DAY: Are You A Perfectionist?

Chris Hart Books: DRAWING TIP OF THE DAY: Are You A Perfectionist?: So ...  you've drawn something you like, well, pretty much,. But the thing is, you're ambitious - you set your sights high for yourself. And...

MY NEW BOOK IS NOW IN THE STORES!

Thanks, once again, to all of you who stop by to see what's going on, and to all who also send emails for recommendations, or simply, to get a little advice and encouragement.

My new book, "BASIC DRAWING MADE AMAZINGLY EASY" gives you the art background you may never had time to acquire. In a clear, accessible and gradual manner, the material covers contour, shading, perspective (yes, perspective without the struggle!), symmetry and more. The subjects range from cars and motorcycles to boats and yachts, houses, household objects, still life, and a section on heads and bodies. It's got lots of exercises throughout, so you can approach your drawings as projects.

I'd love to hear what you think of it. Thanks to those who have already purchased it, within the first week, it's risen to the number 25 book in the country in art. You guys are awesome. Thanks for inspiring me all along the way. This really is a two-way street.

Regards,

Chris

When to Erase, and When NOT To

It's been a whirlwind of a month -- I handed in a new book and got it approved. And my newest book is coming out on April 17 -- it's called "Basic Drawing Made Amazingly Easy." It cuts right to the chase for people who never really got an art education, and feel that they may be lacking in some of the basics, from perspective to still life and drawing people.

So my hint for the day is this: Erase, but not too soon. That doesn't mean you should stick to what you're drawing beyond the point where it looks good. It means that instead of erasing every time you make what you perceive as a mistake, draw "over" your work instead. While you're drawing, seek the right lines, until your image gets so messy, you can't tell one line from the other! Then erase. Why do I make this suggestion? Because you interrupt your rhythm every time you stop to erase. Get into a groove when you draw, and try to stay there as long as possible. That's how you break through the sticking points.

Chris

DRAWING & PERFECTIONISM

Just handed in a new book. Guess how many pages? All together, about 485 for this one, which will end up being designed into a standard page count. I worked so intensely...  7 days a week, long hours, for months, to get it just right. In fact, I had it all drawn, and then -- a sudden flash of inspiration and an improved approach flew into my mind -- so I decided to draw it all over again! I kept about 20 pages of the original book, but 465 pages of it are brand spanking new!

I'm not a perfectionist. A perfectionist is someone who never completes anything because he or she can't stand to do anything that isn't perfect - and nothing ever is. This is different. I finish lots of stuff and send it out into the world.

I live in a sort of a continuous creative flow. And when an idea pops into my brain, and gets me excited, I cannot - I simply cannot - ignore it. If I give my best effort, I have no regrets later. Plus, there are my readers. Yeah, you guys. I owe you something; that's how I figure it. If you're going to invest the time to read my books, I want the material to meet - and surpass - your expectations. That's no guarantee, of course, that everything I do will turn out as I envisioned it. But I've acquired a pretty good track record over my career; and I believe this is part of the reason.

So, my friends, if you're battling perfectionism, don't worry! It's not the bad character defect that everyone makes it out to be. Go ahead, be a perfectionist -- BUT -- finish your project, and submit it. What if you get rejected? Every successful writer and artist has been rejected numerous times. If it happens to you before you get an acceptance, then allow yourself to feel bad for a few moments. You're human. Then move onto the next project. But always answer the phone, even when you're feeling bad. You just might find that it's an interested editor on the other line, pouring over your submission.


Good luck in all of your creative endeavors!

Your Colleague in  Art,

Chris

Publishing Your Graphic Novel

ANNOUNCEMENT: You can NOW see 20 of my FREE drawing tutorials on Youtube. They were done for Howcast, a premier How-To portal on the web, which was voted one of the top 50 websites of 2011 by Time Magazine. 

Simply go to Youtube, and keyword in these words:

"Christopher Hart" draw manga

The tutorials will pop up. And you can choose the topic you want. If you like 'em, please post a comment. And thanks!

BLOG

A great many cartoonists, manga artists and illustrators dream of launching their own graphic novel. And why not? It can establish you, and your cartoon or manga character, and spin off a series and licensing opportunities.

One of the main considerations is pricing. Many first-time authors, without writing or illustration credits, are currently self-publishing .99 cent books. Let's suppose you just wrote and illustrated the great American graphic novel. And BAM! -  it takes off, at .99 cents, and rakes in an impressively big number of sales for a book in its class by a first time author: 25,000 copies. (To give you some idea of average sales: the average published novel, in print, sells 4,000 copies; and the average self-published novel, in print, sells around 175 copies.)

This many copies sold would invariably lead you to ask the following question (oh, come on, you know it would) --  What if your raised your prices?

You first have to ask yourself what is the elasticity of demand for a book by an unknoiwn author, priced at $9.99?  They key question is: Have you made enough of a name for yourself that you can raise your price ten fold on a self-published book, and still retain your readership?

At $9.99 it's quite doubtful that you will sell anywhere near 25,000 copies. Or 20,000. Or 10,000. Or 5,000. And that's because, for $9.99, the reader can buy the work of the best, established writers, with the pedigree of a publishing house, and with the confidence that they will come away with a reliable read - not something they might have to toss out. At record stores - when there were record stores - a consumer might buy an album from an unknown band because the album cover looked cool - IF it had a fire sale price, like ... .99 cents.  But not at the same price as other albums by your favorite groups.

Here's the thing: there is no impulse purchase at $9.99. People do not have it in their budgets to spend ten bucks a pop for the excitement of possibly discovering the next Sventlana Chmnakova (say that five times fast). But at a buck a pop, well, why not roll the literary dice?


Bringing our projections down to earth, let's see how much you might make at a $9.99 price, selling 1,500 copies in a year. That would probably yield you around $9,000; while 25,000 copies at .99 cents may yield around 8,750. Neither is going to make you rich.

So which way should you go?

There are many considerations, too many to list here, but money isn't the only one.  Exposing your work to the public, as a first time author, especially if you don't possess the writing credits to get an established publisher to consider your work, is another. Having earned some success as an author is important for a career. And whether you charge a buck or a hundred bucks, a sale is a sale. Authors with higher sales are more impressive to publishers, and to the public at large, than authors with small sales and greater profits for themselves. 

There are many other, legitimiate opinions on this topic - but that's the way I see it. I hope this has been helpful.


--Thanks for stopping by!

Chris